BAG15048

S.L.C.

114TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION

S. ll

To revive and expand the Intermediate Care Technician Pilot Program of

the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

Mr. KIRK

llllllllll
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to
the Committee on llllllllll

A BILL
To revive and expand the Intermediate Care Technician Pilot
Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and
for other purposes.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

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4

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the Frontlines to Lifelines

5 Act of 2015.
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SEC. 2. REVIVAL AND EXPANSION OF INTERMEDIATE CARE

TECHNICIAN PILOT PROGRAM OF DEPART-

MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

(a) REVIVAL.The Secretary of Veterans Affairs

10 shall revive the Intermediate Care Technician Pilot Pro-

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1 gram of the Department of Veterans Affairs that was car2 ried out by the Secretary between January 2013 and Feb3 ruary 2014.
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(b) TECHNICIANS.
(1) IN

GENERAL.The

Secretary shall expand

the pilot program under subsection (a) to include

not less than 250 intermediate care technicians who

are participating in the pilot program.

(2) FACILITIES.

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(A) IN

GENERAL.Any

intermediate care

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technician hired pursuant to paragraph (1) may

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be assigned to a medical facility of the Depart-

13

ment as determined by the Secretary for pur-

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poses of this section.

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(B) PRIORITY.In assigning intermediate

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care technicians under subparagraph (A), the

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Secretary shall give priority to facilities at

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which veterans have the longest wait times for

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appointments for the receipt of hospital care or

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medical services from the Department, as deter-

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mined by the Secretary for purposes of this sec-

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tion.

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(c) TERMINATION.The Secretary shall carry out

24 the pilot program under subsection (a) during the three-

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1 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this
2 Act.
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4

(d) HOSPITAL CARE

FINED.In

AND

MEDICAL SERVICES DE-

this section, the terms hospital care and

5 medical services have the meanings given such terms

6 in section 1701 of title 38, United States Code.
7

SEC.

3.

TRANSFER

OF

HEALTH

CARE

PROVIDER

CREDENTIALING DATA FROM SECRETARY OF

DEFENSE TO SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-

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11

FAIRS.

(a) IN GENERAL.In a case in which the Secretary

12 of Veterans Affairs hires a covered health care provider,

13 the Secretary of Defense shall, after receiving a request
14 from

the

Secretary

of

Veterans

Affairs

for

the

15 credentialing data of the Secretary of Defense relating to

16 such health care provider, transfer to the Secretary of Vet17 erans Affairs such credentialing data.
18

(b) COVERED HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.For pur-

19 poses of this section, a covered provider is a health care

20 provider who
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(1) is or was employed by the Secretary of Defense;

(2) provides or provided health care related
services as part of such employment; and

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(3) was credentialed by the Secretary of De-

fense.

(c) POLICIES

AND

REGULATIONS.The Secretary of

4 Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense shall estab5 lish such policies and promulgate such regulations as may
6 be necessary to carry out this section.
7

(d) CREDENTIALING DEFINED.In this section, the

8 term credentialing means the systematic process of

9 screening and evaluating qualifications and other creden10 tials, including licensure, required education, relevant
11 training and experience, and current competence and
12 health status.
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SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE OF CERTAIN ADVANCED

14

PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES OF DEPART-

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MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

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(a) IN GENERAL.Notwithstanding any provision of

17 law of a State, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may au18 thorize a covered nurse to practice independently, without
19 supervision or direction of others, under a set of privileges
20 approved by the Secretary, regardless of the State in
21 which the covered nurse is employed by the Secretary.
22

(b) COVERED NURSES.For purposes of this section,

23 a covered nurse is an advanced practice registered nurse

24 who is employed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in
25 any of the following specializations:

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(1) Nurse Midwife.

(2) Clinical Nurse Specialist, with respect to

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the provision of mental health care.

(3) Nurse Practitioner.